What is Included in a Gorilla Permit?
A gorilla permit is a government legal document or Ticket issued by Wildlife regulating authority bodies in the respective countries that are Uganda, DRC, and Rwanda, that allow tourists to access the gorilla parks and spend a limited amount of time with gorilla groups in Bwindi National Park, Mgahinga National Park for Uganda, Volcanoes national park Rwanda, and Virunga National Park, Congo. Uganda Gorilla permits are booked with the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) but may turn out to be cumbersome for international travelers. We recommend international travelers seek help from genuinely registered tour operators.
Embark on an insightful journey with Anthill Safaris as we unravel the mysteries behind gorilla permits, the golden keys to unlocking the world of mountain gorillas in Uganda and Rwanda.
Your Gateway to Primate Encounters: Anthill Safaris introduces you to the significance of the gorilla permit, emphasizing its role as the essential pass granting access to the captivating world of mountain gorillas in Uganda and Rwanda.
Inclusions
What You Get for Your Investment: Anthill Safaris breaks down the inclusions in a gorilla permit. Explore what your investment covers, including park entrance fees, ranger services, and the unique opportunity to spend an unforgettable hour with a gorilla family in their natural habitat.
Park Entrance Fees
Contributing to Conservation and Preservation: Understand the significance of park entrance fees included in your gorilla permit with Anthill Safaris. Learn how these fees play a crucial role in supporting the conservation and preservation of the national parks where gorillas reside.
Ranger and Guide Services
Your Expert Companions on the Trek: Anthill Safaris highlights the inclusion of ranger and guide services in your gorilla permit. Meet the experienced professionals who accompany you on the trek, providing valuable insights into gorilla behavior, ensuring your safety, and enhancing your overall gorilla trekking experience.
You can also reasonably tip your ranger guide as a token of appreciation for the service rendered to find the mountain gorillas during the trek. This gives them the courage to continue defending the mountain gorillas.
Security during gorilla trekking
Security during the gorilla safari adventure in Uganda and Rwanda is very important. Gorilla trekking involves tourists moving on foot in the jungle, so one to participate needs assurance of returning in one piece. One of the escorting ranger guides carries a rifle in case you encounter any threats while searching for the mountain gorillas. Another ranger carries a machete for trimming thick, tangled creepers and creating a way for tourists to access the mountain gorillas.
The parks also collaborate with other security teams in Uganda and Rwanda to maintain law and order around the parks.
Mountain Gorilla Conservation Support
Sustainable mountain gorilla conservation is the aim of all internal and external conservation bodies in Uganda and Rwanda. As mentioned above, mountain gorillas were on the brink of extinction by the 1980s, but with the conservation funds, the current population census indicates that over 1000 mountain gorillas are living.
More to this, the funds collected for mountain gorilla conservation are used to form more gorilla trekking families through gorilla habituation. Gorilla habituation is a process where researchers and trackers escort a wild gorilla family to get them used to human presence without altering their nature. The period taken to form a gorilla trekking family varies according to how fast or slow the gorilla family adapts to human presence.
Local community support
They use this money to support their projects like road maintenance, upgrading schools, digging water sources, and others.
When you purchase a gorilla permit, you support the community park relationship. To conserve the mountain gorillas and their habitats, the local community around the park needs to be involved. They need to understand the relevance of the mountain gorillas in their community.
The park often conducts community sensitization about the need to protect mountain gorillas, forest dwellers, and their habitats.
Hiring a porter before the gorilla trek or habituation experience is one of the most direct ways to support the local community. They use the funds collected to support their families by buying scholastic materials, health care, food, and other necessities. items
Certificate after gorilla trekking or habituation experience
Upon successful completion of the gorilla trekking or gorilla habituation experience, each tourist is handed a certificate as a souvenir for having maneuvered the obstacle of the gorilla adventure.
Time with the mountain gorillas
Upon locating the mountain gorillas during gorilla trekking, only one hour is allowed with them. During the gorilla habituation experience, four hours are allowed with the mountain gorillas. This time was agreed upon so that mountain gorillas are left alone to continue running their day-to-day life.
The presence of humans disrupts many mountain gorilla activities of the day, like feeding, grooming infants, recreation, lounging, and others. This is why rules for gorilla trekking are in place to support the conservation of these gentle giants.
Researcher Fees During Gorilla Habituation Experience
Gorilla habituation experience currently happens in only the southern part of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. The gorilla habituation experience is an adventure where tourists follow a team of researchers and trackers in the wilderness to search for a semi-habituated gorilla family and spend four hours with them.
Is gorilla trekking worth the money?
Every penny you spend on a gorilla safari is worth the wilderness adventure. Even the time you inject into the gorilla tour preparations is suitable. When you get face-to-face with the mountain gorillas, you feel your heart melting with joy. Gorilla trekking is indeed a mystical African adventure.
Mountain gorillas are some of the endangered primates of the world, and thanks to conservation, the population has risen to about 1,000 mountain gorillas. Although a gorilla safari is costly, it is worth every expenditure you make.
How Much is a Gorilla Permit in Uganda
To track mountain gorillas in Uganda, you need to secure a gorilla permit well in advance. The current price of a gorilla permit is US$800 for International Visitors, US$700 for foreign residents, US$80 for East African citizens, and US$500 for holders of other African passports.
A gorilla permit allows you to explore these creatures in the jungles of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park. This same price applies to the gorilla permits of Mgahinga Gorilla National Park. These parks are both located in southwestern Uganda, just at the border with DR Congo along the Albertine rift valley. The permit fee also includes park entrance fees for the day booked.
Finding gorilla permits gets harder, especially during the peak season, which is also the dry season. This period starts from June to September and from December to February. Please be aware that some tourists book gorilla permits a year in advance.
Though most travelers prefer the peak months, gorilla treks are also possible during the wet or rainy season.
Book Your Gorilla Permits
To book a gorilla permit in Uganda, you need to deal with a reliable, trustworthy tour operator. The other possibility is for you to book a gorilla permit in person at Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) if you are within Uganda. Booking a permit through a local tour operator usually makes the process faster compared to booking it through UWA. Would you like to book your permit easily? You can email info@anthillgorillasafaris.com for quick placement of a gorilla pass fast and securely.
Most important to take note of is that tour companies can add an extra fee of about $50-$100 per permit. The extra charge per permit covers the cost and logistics of booking the gorilla permits, such as making calls, picking up the permits, delivering them to you, and other administrative costs.
The Process for Booking.
Please let your tour operator know the dates you intend to track gorillas to ease the planning process. By so doing, a tour operator then lets you know if the dates you prefer to take part in this adventure are indeed available and temporarily books them for you.
Checking Availability of Gorilla Trekking Permits online in Uganda.
When booking gorilla safaris in Uganda, checking the availability of Gorilla permits is always the first recommended step, so that you book your trip within the dates that have space for trekking in either Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park or Mgahinga Gorilla National Park. Once you have your planned dates of travel, you need to send an email to your tour operator so that they can check for the availability of permits online. This booking system displays the dates with availability and those fully booked, so once you provide your dates, you will be able to get information on which dates have availability that you can book your gorilla tour.
How to Book and Purchase Gorilla Permits in Uganda?
Once you have confirmed dates with availability, the next step will be booking the permits and purchasing them through a tour operator in Uganda. You can book your permits partially and then make payment through the tour operator, who will go ahead and purchase the permits for you accordingly. You will need to book and purchase your permit in advance for your gorilla trek, given the fact that these sell out very quickly on a first-come, first-served basis. However, depending on availability, it is also possible to book your gorilla permits at the last minute of your travel to Uganda.
Do you own the Gorilla Permit after Purchasing It?
After purchasing a gorilla permit from Uganda Wildlife Authority, you are given a receipt to confirm purchase, which has a booking ID that is always considered when signing in for your trek at either Bwindi Impenetrable National Park or Mgahinga Gorilla National Park. Depending on the dates of the gorilla trek, you will not be able to get the gorilla permit card until it is one week before the trekking date. You will own the gorilla permit after purchasing it up to the time of signing in for your trek, and once your date of trekking has reached, you will leave your gorilla permit card with the Uganda Wildlife Authority authorities, who later send it back to the headquarters for reuse.
How long is the Gorilla Permit Valid in Uganda?
A Gorilla permit is valid from the time you purchase it to the time of your trekking date. After the gorilla tracking date, the booking ID expires, and the permit becomes invalid. This is why you should plan for your gorilla trek well in advance so that you can make it for the booked trekking date. But it is also well understandable that due to uncertainties sometimes, one may not make it for his/her booked date of trekking. With this, it advised you to reschedule at least two weeks before your trekking date by contacting the Uganda Wildlife Authority or your Tour operator.
Refunds/Cancellation Guidelines
Non-Refundable: Gorilla Permits are nonrefundable. UWA shall refund the full tracking fee if the visitor fails to track due to illness. This will be at the discretion of the Warden in Charge, and this clause only applies to visitors who have made their way to either Bwindi Impenetrable National Park or Mgahinga Gorilla National Park. Visitors who fail to track the gorillas (Mgahinga Gorilla National Park) as a result of their movement to the neighboring country shall receive a full refund on their permits.
UWA will retain the following percentages upon cancellations;
0 – 8 days to tracking date – no refund
9 – 45 days to tracking date – 75% (25% refund to client)
46-90 days to tracking date – 50%
91 days and above to tracking date – 25% (75% refund to client)
